Every year on 28 February we mark Rare Disease Day. It’s a day when we join together worldwide to raise awareness and generate change for people living with a rare health condition.
A disease is classified as ‘rare’ when is affects fewer than 1 in 2000 people.
While haemophilia is rare, some bleeding disorders such as rare clotting factor deficiencies, inherited platelet function disorders and types of VWD are considered very rare. This includes (but isn’t limited to) Type 3 VWD, Glanzmann thrombasthenia, factor X deficiency and acquired haemophilia.
On Rare Disease Day we take the opportunity to share information and personal stories from people living with rare bleeding disorders and the particular issues and challenges they face.
Rare Disease Day was created in 2008 and is the globally-coordinated movement on rare diseases, working towards equity in social opportunity, healthcare, and access to diagnosis and therapies for people living with a rare disease.